How many spin liquids are there in Ca${}_{10}$Cr${}_7$O${}_{28}$?

Abstract

The search for novel phases of matter is a central theme of modern physics, with some of the most intriguing examples provided by the spin liquids found in magnets with competing, or "frustrated" interactions. Ca${}_{10}$Cr${}_7$O${}_{28}$, a novel spin-$1/2$ magnet with a bilayer breathing-kagome lattice, has properties which differ from from any known spin liquid. However, understanding Ca${}_{10}$Cr${}_7$O${}_{28}$ presents a significant challenge, because of its complex frustration. Here we use large-scale molecular-dynamics simulation to explore the origin of spin-liquid behaviour in Ca${}_{10}$Cr${}_7$O${}_{28}$. We uncover qualitatively different behaviour on different timescales, and argue that ground state of Ca${}_{10}$Cr${}_7$O${}_{28}$ is born out of a slowly-fluctuating "spiral spin liquid", while faster fluctuations echo the U(1) spin liquid found in the kagome antiferromagnet. These results provide a concrete scenario for spin-liquid behaviour in Ca${}_{10}$Cr${}_7$O${}_{28}$, and highlight the possibility of spin liquids existing on multiple timescales.

10 pages, 7 figures for main text; 6 pages, 3 figures for supplementary material; two animation videos as supplementary files, see http://youtu.be/GGug4w4MiKQ and http://youtu.be/jSRF7MZTiNM

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Cited by in corpus (22)

• Spiral spin-liquid on a honeycomb lattice
• Multifarious skyrmion phases on a trilayer triangular lattice
• Semi-classical simulation of spin-1 magnets
• Low energy structure of spiral spin liquids
• Skyrmion fluid and bimeron glass protected by a chiral spin liquid on a kagome lattice
• Curie-law crossover in spin liquids
• Spiral-spin-liquid behaviors and persistent reciprocal kagomé structure in frustrated van der Waals magnets and beyond
• Stability of Skyrmion Crystal Phase in Centrosymmetric Distorted Triangular-Lattice Antiferromagnets
• Line-Graph Approach to Spiral Spin Liquids
• Spiral spin liquid in a frustrated honeycomb antiferromagnet: A single-crystal study of GdZnPO
• Spiral Spin Liquid Noise
• Observation of the spiral spin liquid in a triangular-lattice material
• Magnetic properties of the spiral spin liquid and surrounding phases in the square lattice XY model
• Thermodynamics of the dipole-octupole pyrochlore magnet Ce${}_2$Hf${}_2$O${}_7$ in applied magnetic fields
• Giant Magnetocaloric Effect in a Honeycomb Spiral Spin-Liquid Candidate
• Classical spin models of the windmill lattice and their relevance for PbCuTe${}_2$O${}_6$
• Dynamic Spin-Lattice Coupling and Statistical Interpretation for the Molecular-Like Excitations in Frustrated Pyrochlores
• Finite temperature tensor network algorithm for frustrated two-dimensional quantum materials
• Pinch points and half moons encode Berry curvature
• Strong coupling of lattice and orbital excitations in quantum magnet Ca${}_{10}$Cr${}_7$O${}_{28}$: Anomalous temperature dependence of Raman phonons
• Codimension-Two Spiral Spin-Liquid in the Effective Honeycomb-Lattice Compound Cs${}_3$Fe${}_2$Cl${}_9$
• Origin of the intermediate-temperature magnetic specific heat capacity in the spin-liquid candidate Ca${}_{10}$Cr${}_7$O${}_{28}$